A Christmas Angel
by QueenInTheSouth
Summary: Arnold finds out it was thanks to Helga that Mr. Hyunn reunited with his daughter on Christmas. He wants to thank her.


A/N: One-shot based on the special episode, Arnold's Christmas. I wrote it for Christmas (in Spanish) and got a little lazfy when rewriting it in English, so I finished it on Valentine's day lol. Also I was not sure how winter/Christmas break works on the US (or the North hemisphere for that matter; I'm Argentine and it's summer here, obviously) but I googled it lol let's hope I got it right.

You can read more _Hey Arnold! _fanfics on my profile :)

A Christmas Angel

It was the day after the most emotive Christmas Arnold had ever lived, when Mr. Hyunn reunited with his long lost daughter, and both of them were profoundly thankful with the boy. Anyhow, Arnold couldn't stop wondering how Mr. Bailey, the city's archivist who wouldn't help him unless he got the Nancy Spumoni's snow boots, finally decided to look for Mai. Perhaps Gerald's words were true and Arnold did have a "Christmas Angel" looking out for him… It was a mystery though, and Arnold, the ever curious soul, needed to understand. Besides, he wanted to thank Mr. Bailey. So that's how the 26th of December he went back to the archivist's office accompanied by Gerald, who complained about not being playing in the snow with the rest of their friends. Arnold knocked softly on Mr. Bailey's door, and when the man came out he looked surprised and bothered by seeing the two kids in his office, again.

"Now what?" the fat man snapped.

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Bailey" greeted Arnold.

"Merry Christmas" added Gerald.

"Yeah, yeah, Christmas was yesterday. What do you want? Haven't I done enough for you yet?"

"Yes, thank you. Mr. Hyunn is very happy now that he reunited with his daughter." Arnold could almost see a small smile in the archivist's face. "We just came here to thank you and…"

"You're welcome." Mr. Bailey interrupted, just about to close the door on their faces. "Well, if that's all…"

"Just one more thing" Arnold required, and the man sighed but kept the door open. "I wanted to know… What made you change your mind?"

"Your friend." He answered, as if it was something obvious.

"Friend?" Arnold and Gerald asked in unison.

"Yes, the girl. She knew your name and had the shopping list I gave you. She came to me on Christmas Eve, just when I was about to get on a taxi to go back home. She had the Nancy Spumoni boots and asked me to search for Mai Hyunn. First I said no, it was late and I wanted to go to my family. It wasn't the boots but her words what finally convinced me… something about the importance of Christmas, and not letting you stop believing in miracles."

"What was her name?" Gerald asked, confused. "We didn't tell anyone."

"I don't know, she never told me." The man answered, shrugging. "But she was your age, taller than both of you, had blond hair and a unibrow."

Arnold and Gerald looked at each other, thunderstruck, and exclaimed at the same time:

"Helga?!"

"Whatever. She told me she had asked for those boots for Christmas months ago, and her mother stood on a queue eight hours to get them, but she was willing to give them to me, just to help you." He pointed at Arnold. "Honestly, what she'd done really touched me, so by the end of the night I gave the boots back to her." He confessed, and placed his hand on the door. "Well, you can go now."

"Yes… thanks again, Mr. Bailey." Arnold answered, shocked and almost disoriented.

The man nodded and closed the door, and the two boys left.

"I can't believe it! Helga is your Christmas angel?" said Gerald as they walked out the building, pronouncing the girl's name as if Arnold's Christmas angel was the devil. "It's the craziest thing I've ever heard, and will ever hear. Seriously, I've seen it all."

"How did she know we needed the boots?" wondered Arnold "I imagine she picked up the list I dropped at the store, but how did she know we were looking for Mr. Hyunn's daughter?"

"Not only that but why? Why would Helga Pataki give away her own Christmas present to help someone? To help you? It's really strange."

"Helga is a good person deep down." Arnold answered, though his voice was full of surprise.

"It's an actual Christmas miracle, my friend." Gerald opined, and they walked in silence through the snowy streets, for a moment.

"I want to give her a present."

"Helga?"

"Yes, Helga. I don't know how she knew it, or why she did it, but I want to thank her… What could I give her?"

"A pink tie?" Gerald joked and Arnold rolled his eyes. "What about that videogame she wanted to buy for someone when we ran into her in the store? The Frozen Tundra Death Warrior 7000?

"Gerald, you told her yourself that was an expensive and not very personal gift."

"Arnold, I beg you; I implore you, don't do the same thing you did for Mr. Hyunn and search for the perfect gift for Helga. I don't want to end up looking for lost Patakis over the world. We have enough of them. Anyway, whatever you give to her, she will criticize it. It's Helga." Gerald noticed his friend looked pensive. He sighed. "What about some candy? I'm sure she will like that, and it's not expensive."

It wasn't a bad idea, but it still seemed like a too easy, impersonal present anyone could give anybody. What she did was way more generous than going to a store and buying some candy.

"I got it!" Arnold exclaimed. "Instead of buying her candy, I could make some for her… Christmas cookies!"

Gerald stopped walking, looked at his friend and burst in laughter.

"Dude, seriously?... You're gonna bake cookies?" He asked between laughs. "You gonna bake cookies for Helga G. Pataki?!"

He laughed all the way home.

Two hours later, Arnold was sitting in his kitchen, wearing a flowered apron to keep his clothes clean, staring at the oven were the cookies were being cooked. He followed the indications of a recipe book no one ever bother using in the boarding house. He chose lemon flavor, thinking the contrast of sweet and sour suited Helga, with pink glaze over them, since it was probably her favorite color. After some more minutes, he took the tray out of the oven and left it too cool down. Meanwhile, he couldn't stop thinking about Helga. It was all thanks to her. Helga, who always proclaimed the only meaning of Christmas was getting presents, gave away her own Nancy Spumoni boots to help him. Arnold always knew she was secretly a good person, but he never imagined she would do something like this for him. Besides, he couldn't understand how she knew they were looking for Mai Hyunn. He would ask her when he saw her.

"Oh, cookies!" Arnold didn't see his grandfather entering the kitchen until he heard his excited voice.

"Grandpa, they need to cool down." The boy pointed out, but still, Phil approached the tray. "They're for Helga."

Those words did make the old man stop and look at his grandson.

"Helga? You mean your little bully friend from school?"

"Yes."

"The one with the unibrow?" Phil asked, placing his index finger horizontally over his brow, were just a few grey hairs remained.

"Yes."

"The one with the goat ears?"

"…Yes."

"The one…"

"Yes, grandpa. The one, Helga Pataki." Arnold interrupted. "It was thanks to her that we could find Mr. Hyunn's daughter."

He told his granddad what Mr. Bailey had told him a couple of hours ago.

"Well, well…" the old man commented, scratching his chin and narrowing his eyes. Then he smirked at the boy, mischievous. "So she didn't want you to stop believing in miracles, huh?" he chuckled and winked an eye at him. Arnold rolled his eyes. "Best I try one, Shortman, to make sure your little friend doesn't spit them at you."

Arnold couldn't argue against that, so he let his grandfather have a cookie. Phil took a bite and stopped, looking like he wanted to throw up.

"Are they that bad?" the boy asked, disappointed.

"Got ya! They're delicious." Phil jested, finishing the cookie. "Your Christmas Angel will surely thank you."

"Grandpa…" Arnold grumbled, blushing. "Well I better get going before it gets late."

"Hehehe, good luck, Arnold."

The kid put the cookies into a glass jar, put on a Christmas sweater he got as a gift and left the boardhouse. Luckily he made it on time, since he wanted to give them to Helga before it got dark. The climate was very cold and it snowed lightly, but at least it was sunny. He walked quickly to the Pataki's, and in a little while he was standing on their stoop, and when he rang the doorbell he realized he didn't know what he'd say.

The door opened and for a moment Arnold saw the surprise in the girl's face, her eyes wide open.

"A-Arnold!" Helga stuttered, and just in a second her expression returned to the usual apathetic look. "What are you doing here, Football Head?"

"Hey, Helga! Merry Christmas." The boy greeted and offered the jar. Helga stared speechless at it; like instead of a simple cookie jar it was an alien egg. "For you."

Thunderstruck, she grabbed the jar cautiously, as if the alien egg was about to hatch. Is this real? She wondered. Arnold came to bring me cookies in Christmas…? Fearing she was daydreaming (and becoming absolutely bonkers), she looked up and, indeed, it was real. Arnold was there, his nose red from the cold, snowflakes on his golden hair, and a ridiculous Christmas sweater that made him look adorkable.

Before any of them could say anything else, Helga's sister peeked out the door.

"Hiiiii! Arnold, right?" Olga greeted, a big smile on her face, and the boy nodded smiling as well. "How nice! Helga doesn't have a lot of friends coming over."

"Beat it, Olga!" Mumbled the little sister.

"I just came by to give Helga some cookies for…"

"Aww, how sweet! Why don't you come in and drink something warm?"

"Olga!"

"Thanks, but I don't want to bother, I just…"

"Nonesense!" The girl laughed. "If you came by to give my sister cookies, at least come in and drink a hot chocolate." Then she turned to Helga. "Where are your manners, little sister?"

"Burried them in the snow."

"Really, I don't want to bother." Arnold insisted, this time looking at Helga.

He thinks he's a nuisance to me. Oh, Arnold! You're as beautiful as you are dense; how could you ever bother me, when your mere presence brightens my day? Damn be the morning sun that will erase your footprints from the snow of my stoop, my love. I must have some kind of Christmas angel that brought you here… No! For that angel is you. My hateful sister is right; I'm rude to you, to your gentle heart that has brought me this charming jar of cookies… for motives yet unknown to me, but who am I to question fate's mysterious ways, and the opportunity that knocks at my door? I shall say something now, sweet Arnold, before you depart.

"Come in if you want, Football Head. It's not like I had anything better to do, anyway." Helga shrugged and turned around, not waiting for the boy to reply.

Arnold followed the sisters into the house. In the living room, he saw a Christmas tree, Big Bob on the couch watching a wrestle show and shouting to the television, and Helga's mom asleep on another couch. Olga announced Helga had a friend visiting, Helga replied it was Olga who invited him in, Arnold politely said hello and merry Christmas, Bob merely glanced at him and replied with another hello and told them to go to the kitchen, that he was watching the fight, and continued shouting things to the wrestlers, as if they heard him through the TV screen.

"Have a seat, Arnold. I'll prepare you guys some hot chocolate." Olga offered as they entered the kitchen.

"I can do it myself, Olga, I'm not three years old." Helga complained as she reached for two big mugs.

"But you'll always be my baby sister." The older Pataki answered, pinching affectionately her cheek. Arnold, sitting at the table, watched the scene with a grin. Helga noticed and slapped off her sister's hand, blushing. "Alright, I'll leave you two alone." Olga said, and before closing the door she secretly winked at Helga, who glared at her.

"You're lucky you don't have siblings, Arnoldo."

"Your sister is nice."

"Yeah, yeah, everybody loves Olga." She mocked while she lighted up a match and put some milk to heat on the stove. Then she put inside two dark chocolate bars Olga herself had bought for her. "And her stupid carols and her stupid punch and her stupid Christmas sweaters… like yours." She said, glancing at his sweater with little reindeers, and then turned around to stir the chocolate melting in the milk. "If you like her so much, let's switch families until New Year, pal. Put on a pink dress and a bow and I assure you no one here will notice the difference."

She turned off the stove, poured the hot chocolate in the mugs and went over to Arnold, who was watching her in silence.

"Thanks." The boy said, receiving the mug and feeling the pleasant warm on his cold hands. He waited for Helga to take the first sip before he drank as well. "It's really good, Helga."

"Alright, Hairboy, what brings you here? Have you added delivering cookies on Christmas to your list of good actions? Or are you selling them for some charity? Because I'm not gonna buy them, I don't care if it's to help blind children."

Arnold drank another sip before he answered.

"Actually, no. I made them for you… Pink like your bow and dress."

Helga froze before opening the jar and looked at him, agape.

I like your bow because it's pink like your pants.

She felt her heart skip a beat.

"I… wanted to give you a present, Helga, because… there's something I want to tell you."

Her hands were sweating, and Helga felt a warm feeling on her cheeks that had nothing to do with the hot chocolate.

"Yes?" she asked, her voice almost a squeal.

"…I want to thank you. I know it was you who gave the Nancy Spumoni boots to Mr. Bailey to find Mr. Hyunn's daughter, and that those boots were the Christmas present you wanted so bad. You convinced him to help me in my search. I… I really appreciate it, Helga. I know these cookies are not the same worth as the boots but I wanted to do something for you, to thank you."

Helga was speechless for a moment, processing what she had just heard. Arnold knew it was her who helped him. He hadn't come here to declare his love, but he was thanking her… and he brought her cookies baked by him, especially for her. That was far more precious than any other gift. While Arnold looked at her, probably expecting some answer, Helga feared the boy would hear how fast her heart was beating.

"It's nothing, Arnoldo" she said as nonchalantly as possible. "It's just some stupid boots, and the old man ended up giving them back to me, anyway."

"Still, they were your Christmas present and you were willing to give them away. I know your mom spent eight hours in line to get them, because you had asked for them months ago… By the way, how did you know we were looking for Mr. Hyunn's daughter and that we needed the boots?"

Uh oh. She had not thought about that. Because I was spying on you behind a tree while you were talking to Gerald? Yeah, not creep at all.

"Uh… I heard you and Gerald talking about it when I ran into you at the store… Not that I give a damn about your conversations; you guys are too loud, Football Head."

She opened the jar and grabbed a cookie. It looked pretty. She took a bite and the texture and the flavor, or maybe the fact it was Arnold who baked them for her, made her close her eyes in bliss for a moment. This reaction didn't go unnoticed by Arnold, who smiled pleased with himself as he reached for a cookie. "Not bad at all, Arnold. Thanks."

"I'm glad. Thank you, Helga. Honestly, I was so disappointed on not finding Mr Hyunn's daughter, and when I saw her walking through my door I didn't understand how it happened. I thought Mr. Bailey's change of heart was a Christmas miracle…" and then he remembered something and laughed softly, and Helga thought it was the most beautiful sound in the world and it should be recorded into every damn Christmas carol. "Gerald told me I must have some Christmas angel looking after me… and it was you."

Helga laughed nervously, her face a ripe tomato.

"Boy, Gerald does say the most bat-crap stupid things. All this snow must have frozen his brain… Christmas angel, yeah, right." She snorted and ate another cookie.

"You are very generous, Helga. Mr. Bailey told me it was your words that changed his mind, and that you wanted to help me believe in miracles… You shouldn't be embarrassed, but proud of yourself." He said, as he placed his palm softly over the back of Helga's hand, and the girl almost choked on the cookie.

Helga looked at his small hand over her long-fingered one and felt the warmness his palm irradiated went straight to her heart.

"Well, you are a nice kid, A-Arnold… and I… uhm…" she stuttered and when she looked up and met Arnold's attentive gaze she couldn't bear it anymore. "Don't think I did this for you!" she snapped, withdrawing her hand. "Man you're self-centered, Football Head! After all it was about reuniting a father and his daughter. Consider it my humanitarian deed of the year. I'm a pretty amazing person!" She drank down her mug and when she finished there was a chocolate mustache over her upper lip, which Arnold instantly noticed. "And don't you dare telling anyone about this, or I will hunt you down and kick your ass and you won't be able to sit until Easter. I have a reputation to maintain."

Arnold held back a smile.

"Whatever you say, Helga." He finished his drink and stood up. "I should get going now."

"Right." She stood up as well and walked him to the door.

"Thanks again… Well, I guess I'll see you around, Helga. Happy Holidays." Arnold said, and the girl repressed the urge of suggesting they should all hang out before returning to school. Honestly, how lame was she if she couldn't bare a week without seeing Arnold?

"Sure. Bye, Football Head."

The moment he turned around to walk down the stoop, her façade broke down as she swooned with a smile. She held the door open for a little longer, staring at the back of his golden hair as he walked away.

"Did you and Arnold have fun?"

Helga almost jumped, her sister's strident voice on her ear startling her.

"Criminy, Olga!" she cursed, turning around and closing the door. "He just came by to sell cookies for a stupid Christmas charity. I was feeling generous so I bought some… I don't know why you invited him in."

Olga smirked in the way of a twenty-year-old who can't be fooled by her nine-year-old sister but still finds the attempt quite endearing.

"Merry Christmas, little sister… You've got a chocolate mustache, by the way."

Helga mumbled a cuss word and went to the kitchen to wash on the sink. Then, looking at the place, she found it darker and colder now that Arnold had left. She sat on the chair the boy had occupied and gazed at the jar of pink cookies.

Gerald told me I must have some Christmas angel looking after me… and it was you.

With a sigh, she held the cold, hard glass jar against her chest, the way a kid might hug their dearest teddy bear.


End file.
